Gaia Data Release 3

The Galaxy in your preferred colours: Synthetic photometry from Gaia low-resolution spectra

¹ INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, Via Piero Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy
² Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
³ Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
⁴ School of Physics and Astronomy/Space Park Leicester, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
⁵ Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade do Porto, CAUP, Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto, Portugal
⁶ Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
⁷ Institut d’Astrophysique et de Géophysique, Université de Liège, 19c, Allée du 6 Août, 4000 Liège, Belgium
⁸ Royal Observatory of Belgium, Ringlaan 3, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
⁹ CIGUS CITIC – Department of Computer Science and Information Technologies, University of A Coruña, Campus de Elviña s/n, A Coruña 15071, Spain
¹⁰ CIGUS CITIC, Department of Nautical Sciences and Marine Engineering, University of A Coruña, Paseo de Ronda 51, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
¹¹ Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička cesta 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
¹² INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo Enrico Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy
¹³ Space Science Data Center – ASI, Via del Politecnico SNC, 00133 Roma, Italy
¹⁴ INAF – Osservatorio astronomico di Padova, Vicolo Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
¹⁵ Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Niels Bohrweg 2, 2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands
¹⁶ European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
¹⁷ GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, 5 Place Jules Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France
¹⁸ Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France
¹⁹ Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Mönchhofstr. 12-14, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
²⁰ Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Bd de l’Observatoire, CS 34229, 06304 Nice Cedex 4, France
²¹ Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, B18N, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 33615 Pessac, France
²² Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva, Chemin Pegasi 51, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
²³ European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Camino Bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
²⁴ Aurora Technology for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino Bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
²⁵ Lohrmann Observatory, Technische Universitt Dresden, Mommsenstraße 13, 01062 Dresden, Germany
²⁶ Lund Observatory, Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Physics, Lund University, Box 43, 22100 Lund, Sweden
²⁷ CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
²⁸ Institut d’Astronomie et d’Astrophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles CP 226, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
²⁹ F.R.S.-FNRS, Rue d’Egmont 5, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
³⁰ INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Via Osservatorio 20, 10025 Pino Torinese, TO, Italy
³¹ European Space Agency (ESA), Noordwijk, The Netherlands
³² University of Turin, Department of Physics, Via Pietro Giuria 1, 10125 Torino, Italy
³³ DAPCOM for Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
³⁴ Observational Astrophysics, Division of Astronomy and Space Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
³⁵ ALTEC S.p.a, Corso Marche 79, 10146 Torino, Italy
³⁶ Sednai Sàrl, Geneva, Switzerland
³⁷ Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva, Chemin d’Ecogia 16, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
³⁸ Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
³⁹ Gaia DPAC Project Office, ESAC, Camino Bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
⁴⁰ Telespazio UK S.L. for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino Bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
⁴¹ SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, LNE, 61 Avenue de l’Observatoire, 75014 Paris, France
⁴² National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxa and Vas. Pavlou, Palaia Penteli, 15236 Athens, Greece
⁴³ IMCCE, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Univ. Lille, 77 Av. Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France
⁴⁴ Serco Gestión de Negocios for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino Bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
⁴⁵ CRAAG – Centre de Recherche en Astronomie, Astrophysique et Géophysique, Route de l’Observatoire Bp 63 Bouzareah, 16340 Algiers, Algeria
⁴⁶ Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
⁴⁷ RHEA for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino Bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
⁴⁸ ATG Europe for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino Bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
⁴⁹ Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg, UMR 7550, 11 Rue de l’Université, 67000 Strasbourg, France
⁵⁰ Kavli Institute for Cosmology Cambridge, Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
⁵¹ Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany
⁵² CENTRA, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Edif. C8, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
⁵³ Department of Informatics, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine, 5226 Donald Bren Hall, 92697-3440 CA, Irvine, USA
⁵⁴ INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Via S. Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, Italy
⁵⁵ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Ettore Majorana”, Università di Catania, Via S. Sofia 64, 95123 Catania, Italy
⁵⁶ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via Frascati 33, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Roma, Italy
⁵⁷ Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, PO Box 64 00014 Helsinki, Finland
⁵⁸ Finnish Geospatial Research Institute FGI, Geodeetinrinne 2, 02430 Masala, Finland
⁵⁹ Institut UTINAM CNRS UMR6213, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, OSU THETA Franche-Comté Bourgogne, Observatoire de Besançon, BP 1615, 25010 Besançon Cedex, France
⁶⁰ HE Space Operations BV for European Space Agency (ESA), Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
⁶¹ Dpto. de Inteligencia Artificial, UNED, c/ Juan del Rosal 16, 28040 Madrid, Spain
⁶² Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Eötvös Loránd Research Network (ELKH), MTA Centre of Excellence, Konkoly Thege Miklós út 15-17, 1121 Budapest, Hungary
⁶³ ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Physics, 1117, Pázmány Péter sétány 1A, Budapest, Hungary
⁶⁴ Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
⁶⁵ Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University, PO Box 9010 6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands
⁶⁶ University of Vienna, Department of Astrophysics, Türkenschanzstraße 17, 1180 Vienna, Austria
⁶⁷ Institute of Physics, Laboratory of Astrophysics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Observatoire de Sauverny, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
⁶⁸ Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, Landleven 12, 9747 AD Groningen, The Netherlands
⁶⁹ Thales Services for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
⁷⁰ Depto. Estadística e Investigación Operativa. Universidad de Cádiz, Avda. República Saharaui s/n, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain
⁷¹ Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD, USA
⁷² GSFC – Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 698, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, 20771 MD, Greenbelt, USA
⁷³ EURIX S.r.l., Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 61, 10128 Torino, Italy
⁷⁴ Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
⁷⁵ Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., MS 15, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
⁷⁶ HE Space Operations BV for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino Bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
⁷⁷ LFCA/DAS,Universidad de Chile,CNRS, Casilla 36-D, Santiago, Chile
⁷⁸ SISSA – Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
⁷⁹ Telespazio for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
⁸⁰ University of Turin, Department of Computer Sciences, Corso Svizzera 185, 10149 Torino, Italy
⁸¹ Dpto. de Matemática Aplicada y Ciencias de la Computación, Univ. de Cantabria, ETS Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain
⁸² Centro de Astronomía – CITEVA, Universidad de Antofagasta, Avenida Angamos 601, Antofagasta 1270300, Chile
⁸³ DLR Gesellschaft für Raumfahrtanwendungen (GfR), mbH Münchener Straße 20 82234 Weßling, Germany
⁸⁴ Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, AL10 9AB Hatfield, UK
⁸⁵ University of Turin, Mathematical Department “G. Peano”, Via Carlo Alberto 10, 10123 Torino, Italy
⁸⁶ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico d’Abruzzo, Via Mentore Maggini, 64100 Teramo, Italy
⁸⁷ Instituto de Astronomia, Geofìsica e Ciências Atmosféricas, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, 1226, Cidade Universitaria, 05508-900 São Paulo, SP, Brazil
⁸⁸ APAVE SUDEUROPE SAS for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
⁸⁹ Mésocentre de calcul de Franche-Comté, Université de Franche-Comté, 16 Route de Gray, 25030 Besançon Cedex, France
⁹⁰ ATOS for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
⁹¹ School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
⁹² Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
⁹³ Centre de Données Astronomique de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
⁹⁴ Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
⁹⁵ European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, 85748 Garching, Germany
⁹⁶ Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
⁹⁷ Data Science and Big Data Lab., Pablo de Olavide University, 41013 Seville, Spain
⁹⁸ Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Plaça Eusebi Güell 1-3, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
⁹⁹ ETSE Telecomunicación, Universidade de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Galicia, Spain
¹⁰⁰ Asteroid Engineering Laboratory, Space Systems, Luleå University of Technology, Box 848, 981 28 Kiruna, Sweden
¹⁰¹ Vera C Rubin Observatory, 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
¹⁰² Department of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Mechanics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografos, 15783 Athens, Greece
¹⁰³ TRUMPF Photonic Components GmbH, Lise-Meitner-Straße 13, 89081 Ulm, Germany
¹⁰⁴ IAC – Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Via Láctea s/n, 38200 La Laguna S.C., Tenerife, Spain
¹⁰⁵ Department of Astrophysics, University of La Laguna, Via Láctea s/n, 38200 La Laguna S.C., Tenerife, Spain
¹⁰⁶ Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Kluyverweg 1, 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands
¹⁰⁷ Radagast Solutions, Simon Vestdijkpad 24, 2321 WD Leiden, The Netherlands
¹⁰⁸ Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier, CNRS Université Montpellier, Place Eugène Bataillon, CC72, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France
¹⁰⁹ Université de Caen Normandie, Côte de Nacre, Boulevard Maréchal Juin, 14032 Caen, France
¹¹⁰ LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, 5 Place Jules Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France
¹¹¹ SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Niels Bohrweg 4, 2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands
¹¹² Astronomical Observatory, University of Warsaw, Al. Ujazdowskie 4, 00-478 Warszawa, Poland
¹¹³ Scalian for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
¹¹⁴ Université Rennes, CNRS, IPR (Institut de Physique de Rennes), UMR 6251, 35000 Rennes, France
¹¹⁵ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Via Moiariello 16, 80131 Napoli, Italy
¹¹⁶ Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, PR China
¹¹⁷ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19(A) Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049, PR China
¹¹⁸ Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
¹¹⁹ DXC Technology, Retortvej 8, 2500 Valby, Denmark
¹²⁰ Las Cumbres Observatory, 6740 Cortona Drive Suite 102, Goleta, CA 93117, USA
¹²¹ Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK
¹²² IPAC, Mail Code 100-22, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
¹²³ IRAP, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CNES, 9 Av. colonel Roche, BP 44346, 31028 Toulouse Cedex 4, France
¹²⁴ MTA CSFK Lendlet Near-Field Cosmology Research Group, Konkoly Observatory, MTA Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Konkoly Thege Miklós út 15-17, 1121 Budapest, Hungary
¹²⁵ Departmento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
¹²⁶ Villanova University, Department of Astrophysics and Planetary Science, 800 E Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085, USA
¹²⁷ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, via E. Bianchi, 46, 23807 Merate, LC, Italy
¹²⁸ STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, Didcot OX11 0QX, UK
¹²⁹ Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Astronomical Institute of Charles University, V Holesovickach 2, 18000 Prague, Czech Republic
¹³⁰ Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
¹³¹ Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
¹³² Departamento de Astrofísica, Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), ESA-ESAC, Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, 28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
¹³³ naXys, University of Namur, Rempart de la Vierge, 5000 Namur, Belgium
¹³⁴ CGI Deutschland B.V. & Co. KG, Mornewegstr. 30, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
¹³⁵ Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
¹³⁶ Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
¹³⁷ H H Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, UK
¹³⁸ Department of Physics and Astronomy G. Galilei, University of Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 3, 35122 Padova, Italy
¹³⁹ CERN, Esplanade des Particules 1, PO Box 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
¹⁴⁰ Applied Physics Department, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
¹⁴¹ Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20004, USA
¹⁴² European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Casilla 19, Santiago, Chile
¹⁴³ Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR7095, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, 98bis bd. Arago, 75014 Paris, France
¹⁴⁴ Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, Jadranska ulica 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Received: 4 April 2022
Accepted: 19 May 2022

Abstract

Gaia Data Release 3 provides novel flux-calibrated low-resolution spectrophotometry for ≃220 million sources in the wavelength range 330 nm ≤ λ ≤ 1050 nm (XP spectra). Synthetic photometry directly tied to a flux in physical units can be obtained from these spectra for any passband fully enclosed in this wavelength range. We describe how synthetic photometry can be obtained from XP spectra, illustrating the performance that can be achieved under a range of different conditions – for example passband width and wavelength range – as well as the limits and the problems affecting it. Existing top-quality photometry can be reproduced within a few per cent over a wide range of magnitudes and colour, for wide and medium bands, and with up to millimag accuracy when synthetic photometry is standardised with respect to these external sources. Some examples of potential scientific application are presented, including the detection of multiple populations in globular clusters, the estimation of metallicity extended to the very metal-poor regime, and the classification of white dwarfs. A catalogue providing standardised photometry for ≃2.2 × 10⁸ sources in several wide bands of widely used photometric systems is provided (Gaia Synthetic Photometry Catalogue; GSPC) as well as a catalogue of ≃10⁵ white dwarfs with DA/non-DA classification obtained with a Random Forest algorithm (Gaia Synthetic Photometry Catalogue for White Dwarfs; GSPC-WD).